Kogi Central Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan Charged Over Assassination Allegation Against Akpabio and Bello
Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan faces criminal defamation charges after alleging Senate President Akpabio and former Governor Bello conspired to assassinate her, with potential legal consequences looming
Kogi Central senator, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, has been charged over her allegation that Senate President Godswill Akpabio and former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello conspired to assassinate her.
The Department of Public Prosecutions of the Federation (DPPF), Federal Ministry of Justice, filed the charges against her on 16 May at the FCT High Court in Abuja.
Read Also: APC Governors Back President Tinubu for 2027: A Unified Push for Re-election
The case marked: CR/297/25, has the Federal Republic of Nigeria as the complainant and Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan as the sole defendant.
Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan, who was suspended from the Senate in March for six months, faces criminal defamation charges over the claim she made in a televised interview alleging that Messrs Akpabio and Bello conspired to assassinate her.
She made the remarks on 3 April, when she appeared on Channels Television’s Politics Today.
M.B Abubakar, the Director of DDPF, who signed the charges, stated that the senator made the assassination “imputation” knowing or having reason to believe that it would harm the reputations of Messrs Akpabio and Bello.
She was charged under Section 391 of the Penal Code Law, Cap 89, Laws of the Federation, 1990, which criminalises imputations made with the intent or knowledge that they could harm a person’s reputation.
If convicted, Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan faces up to two years in prison, a fine, or both, as prescribed in the law.
Televised allegations During the interview, Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan claimed her life was in danger following the withdrawal of her security details as a senator.
Read Also: Super Eagles Unity Cup and Russia Friendly Squad Revealed: Key Omissions and Surprises
She directly accused Messrs Akpabio and Bello of plotting her assassination.
“I am glad you did admit that I am a lawyer, and even if I am not a lawyer, I am a sane individual, and I do stand by what I said. In respect to the meeting or discussion Akpabio had [with] Yahaya Bello that night to eliminate me,” she was quoted as saying in the excerpts of her interview reproduced in the charges filed against her.
“Just ask the Senate President why he withdrew my security if not to make me vulnerable to attacks. Mind you, of all the senators, about 109, we all have different stories.
Full Story: premiumtimesng.com
Picture Credit: premiumtimesng.com
